


Consequence

by Cait_frost_11



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Consequences, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt No Comfort, Time Travel, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 16:43:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11108646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cait_frost_11/pseuds/Cait_frost_11
Summary: Barry agrees to go back a few months to save Dante, but when he returns he finds that the timeline had serious consequences for his meddlesome actions.





	Consequence

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted in a whole WEEK! Sorry about all that, but I got a puppy and he's a lot of work. (His name is Frodo ;)) Two more days of the school year and I'm done!
> 
> I know I promised fluff for a while after the finales... but then this happened. I'm sorry.

"I'm really sorry about Dante, Cisco," Barry said while they sat on the floor of the hallway alone. "And I know how selfish it was of me to run back to save my family but refuse to save yours."

 

Cisco shook his head. "It's fine. You made your choice, and I've come to peace with what happened to my brother."

 

"But I haven't." Barry looked up into Cisco's eyes. "I changed so much in so many people's lives."

 

"And we will deal with it," Cisco insisted. 

 

Barry looked away and shook his head. "But you don't have to deal with it. I honk part of the reason so many things changed was because I went back so far. If I go back just a few months to when Dante died, not too much could change."

 

"Are you sure?" Cisco asked uncertainly. "Like you said earlier, so may other things could still happen as a result."

 

"I know you weren't exactly the closest with Dante, but you still deserve the chance to have your family."

 

"Are you really sure about this?" Cisco questioned. 

 

"Yes," Barry answered confidently. "You are my best friend. I want to help you."

 

"Thank you, Barry."

 

Cisco and Barry both stand up and embrace, and then Barry runs to the pipeline and opens a breach into a few months in he past, to the night where Dante died. 

 

Barry stopped the drunk driver with his speed, saving Dante's life. 

 

"Flash?" The man questioned as he got out of his car. "Thank you for saving me."

 

"Of course, Dante." The man looked confused at why the hero knew his name. Barry gave him no explanation. "You should try to reconnect with your brother," Barry advised before dashing off into a breach that led back to the moment he had left in the future. 

 

He didn't know what he expected to see when he returned, but what he found was not it. 

 

Maybe he thought he would see Cisco and Dante hanging out together, or Cisco and Caitlin experimenting new chemicals together, or Wally and Iris laughing in the cortex. 

 

When he got back he found Wally and Iris sitting solemnly in the cortex, tear trails staining Iris' cheeks and Wally looking positively miserable. He found Dante hugging Cisco, who was sobbing unrelentingly into his brother's shoulder. Joe was standing alone in the hallway, lost in his own world of thought. Caitlin was nowhere to be seen. 

 

Barry returned to the cortex to speak with Iris and Wally, and sinking feeling building up in his stomach as he wondered what he had changed this time. He had a terrible feeling about the lack of Caitlin's presence. 

 

"Hey, guys," he said to the siblings, who barely looked up at his entrance. "What is going on?"

 

"What do you mean, 'what's going on?'" Wally said darkly. 

 

"Where is Caitlin?" Barry asked. 

 

Iris stood up and looked into his eyes, hers brimming with tears. "What the heck, Barry? If this is some sick attempt at humor, it isn't funny."

 

"I don't get it. What happened?" Barry said, still clueless. 

 

Iris turned away and let her tears fall, and Wally stood up and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug. 

 

"What is going on with you, Baer?!" Wally shouted. "You think acting like nothing happened is going to fix anything?!"

 

"What have I done?" Barry mumbled to himself, but Iris and Wally both heard it. 

 

"You time traveled," Wally accused. "This didn't happen before."

 

"She's gone?"

 

Iris nodded with a sniffle. "Why did you go back this time?" 

 

It was sad that she had to ask, "this time," because it had happened so many other times. 

 

"Cisco's brother Dante was killed in a DUI accident. I went back to save him."

 

"Caitlin was killed in a DUI accident," Iris gasped. 

 

Barry's heart nearly shattered into a million pieces. In going back in time, he had traded Dante's life in return for Caitlin's. 

 

He left the cortex, looking to find space alone to think. Instead he walked right into Cisco. 

 

"How much of that did you hear?" Barry asked him. 

 

Cisco wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded his head. "Enough. Thank you for what you did for Dante."

 

Barry just nodded, knowing that neither of them were happy with the outcome. 

 

Cisco initiated the hug, but Barry reciprocated pretty quickly, and soon they were bawling into each other's shoulder. The pain from losing their best friend tore at their hearts and threatened to break them in half. 

 

A week later at the funeral, a small crowd of people stood around a casket suspended over a freshly dug hole in the ground. 

 

Barry, Cisco, Dante, and the West family were the first ones at the cemetery. Harry and Jesse had come over from Earth-Two, and Felicity, Oliver, and Thea came as well. John and Lyla came with their twins, J.J. and Sara. They were all standing around the grave, huddled in small groups, hugging and wiping tears from their eyes. 

 

It was a strange event, and no one really said anything for a while, just stood there and thought of all the things that Caitlin had done for them. Barry finally spoke up. 

 

"As you all know, going out and fighting to protect our cities everyday produces a lot of injuries. Caitlin always made sure that I was well taken care of. She was always there when any of us needed her." He only got this far before breaking down in tears. He had written down two whole pages of memories and words about Caitlin, but it all seemed pointless at this time. None of it would bring her back. 

 

The group of friends just stood there together, thinking about their friend who had given so much and been taken too soon. 

Maybe things could have been different. Maybe if Barry hadn't gone back to save Dante, Caitlin would still be with them. But maybe if he hadn't, they would have lost both of them. No matter what would have or could have happened, they would have to live with their mistakes. 

Mistakes can change lives. Barry made a mistake, and he would regret it for everyday after when he walked into S.T.A.R. labs and didn't see her smile. Or on his and Iris' wedding day when a spot in the audience that should have been hers was empty. Or the day that they welcomed Don Henry and Dawn Caitlin into the world, named for the woman they missed everyday. But they had to move forward, not linger on the past, because they knew that it was what she would have wanted them to do.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think, and if you want you could give me ideas in fluffy things I could write. ;)
> 
> (And yes John and Lyla have twins Sara and JJ because I'm too bitter to leave out baby Sara)


End file.
